Bullied By My Alpha Stepbrother novel Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Jasmine's POV

"And then, for tomorrow's assignment..." Miss Smith our homeroom teacher spoke but I had already zoned out by the time she started listing it out.

I knew that Lorenzo, being the perfect boy that he was, would probably get it.

It had been a week since Hardin had rudely chased him away from our house when he had come to take me to a nearby restaurant for us to do our group assignment.

And by rudely, I meant it because I was sure that was what had happened even though Lorenzo assured me that Hardin had only claimed I was busy.

Speaking of Hardin, I hadn't seen him at school all week since that day when I had forced that lie out of my mouth.

I didn't realize that he had actually bought that lie that I had concocted to hurt his feelings and that it had worked.

"The way you fuck is not even something that should turn anyone on."

It was easy to add that to the rest of my rants at him because the rest was true.

But this part had been a lie.

A big lie and I didn't realize that he had even bought it until he didn't come home.

I wanted to say that I felt glee after that night but I would be lying about it because I knew that it had been said out of spite to directly affect his ego. And it had hit home so hard, it was like Hardin didn't exist.

I knew that I should be happy. I had gotten what I wanted, had I not?

For Hardin to leave me alone and to allow me to continue with my life in peace.

So why was I feeling like this?

Why did I look for him at the dinner table?

Why did I pass by his room and feel this urge to check if he was around?

Why did I wonder how he was doing now that he was almost never around me?

Why did I feel empty?

The bell rang for the end of class and it was time for lunch.

As I walked out of the class with Nadia, I looked at where his locker was, the spot where he and his clique usually stood and saw everyone else but him.

He had not been home in a week and I was scared to seek him out at the cottage especially after the way I had walked out that day and called Lorenzo to pick me up.

"What are you looking at?" Nadia asked as she slammed the locker and I flinched from the sound, my eyes darting away from where Alex and Sandro and the rest of the clique stood to look at my best friend.

"Nothing?" I lied and she nodded, taking my hand as we walked into the cafeteria and my eyes widened as I saw Lorenzo sitting at our table.

"Oh my God, he's sitting at our table." Nadia squealed and I swallowed.

"I can see that." I said, my eyebrows raised in question as we approached.

"Hi girls, I hope you don't mind that I'm now sitting here today. Mason kind of bailed on me and the rest is history."

Mason was one of the guys on the lacrosse team who was now Lorenzo's friend and they used to sit on the table beside ours during lunch.

"Oh, not at all" Nadia said with a wink directed at me and I fought the urge to pinch her and bury my face under the table at how obvious her actions were.

Plus there was the fact that people were staring at our table now that Lorenzo was sitting on it and whispering amongst themselves.

I didn't realize that I had zoned off while Lorenzo and Nadia were talking about the latest assignment that Miss Smith had given us until the door to the cafeteria opened and Hardin walked in.

Like every place was whenever he walked into a room, the entire cafeteria seemed to gravitate towards him, his presence taking up almost all of the attention and even though he looked like he had not slept in days, he was absolutely and painfully gorgeous.

Heading to his table with the populars, he sat down with them and when he whispered in Alex's ears, I regretted the fact that I did not have enhanced hearing or I would have focused on their table to hear what he was asking for.

I stared at him for so long, hoping that he would look at me and when he did, I lost my breath, his eyes looking at me with a lack of emotion or expression that made me upset for some reason.

Because Hardin never looked at me like that.

There was always rage in his eyes or lust or downright irritation. But now as he stared at him, there was absolutely nothing. It could as well have been that he was looking at an empty wall

As quickly as our eyes collided, he looked away and after a couple of minutes, he rose to his feet and walked out of the cafeteria.